Oldest Quarterbacks to Win a Playoff Game

In the Divisional Round, Peyton Manning wasn’t at his best, but he was good enough.In the Conference Championship Game, Peyton Manning wasn’t at his best, but he was good enough.In the Super Bowl, Peyton Manning wasn’t at his best, but he was good enough.

Thank you, Denver defense.

As has been pointed out on this site and in countless other media outlets, Peyton Manning (and to a large extent Brock Osweiler when he was taking snaps) was merely a placeholder for a team that let its defense do nearly all its dirty work. Of course, for a starting quarterback, a playoff win is still a playoff win, and with his three victories in the 2015 playoffs, Manning inserted himself three times into the list of top ten oldest quarterbacks to win a playoff game.

The list below shows the oldest quarterbacks to win a playoff game, post-merger (thank you Pro Football Reference).(Methodological note – the linked site shows all quarterbacks with five or more passing attempts.If there was a starting quarterback who won a game making four or fewer passing attempts, which I could not find, he is not included on this list.)

Favre’s last playoff victory was one for the ages, one in which he came within one touchdown pass of tying his postseason high in a blowout victory.Of course, had he not thrown a horrible across-the-body interception the following week against the Saints in the NFC Championship Game he could have added his name to this list one or even two more times.

Manning’s only game in the 2015 playoffs in which he had a touchdown pass, the Broncos were only able to celebrate victory once New England failed to convert on its two point attempt in the final seconds.

Elway’s counterpart Vinny Testaverde (no spring chicken himself) had over twice as many passing yards and nearly three times as many completions, but Elway threw 0 interceptions to Testaverde’s 2 and the Broncos as a team didn’t turn the ball over at all, compared to 6 times for the Jets as a team.

One of the few truly great quarterback performances on this list, Warner was nearly perfect in this game, in which the Cardinals raced to a 17-0 lead, nearly gave it up in the fourth quarter, and won it in overtime just over a minute in on a fumble return.